SACRAMENTO —Today, Assemblymember Jim Wood (D-Santa Rosa) announced selecting Debra Kubin, Superintendent of Mendocino County’s Ukiah Unified School District (UUSD), as 2021 Woman of the Year for Assembly District 2.
“In addition to her already challenging role as UUSD’s superintendent, Ms. Kubin responded to the COVID pandemic by leading an amazing effort to not only help continue the education of Ukiah’s students but oversee an amazing effort to make sure that more than 3,000 students who need food support have received daily meals, including students who attend charter and private schools” said Wood.
Ms. Kubin worked with the district’s food distributors to ensure that they received the necessary amount of food, and at the same time, worked to assist students in transitioning to remote learning by providing all sixth- through 12th-grade students with Chromebooks and for those who did not have access to the internet, purchased 150 hot spots that were distributed to families who live in remote areas of the district.
“Ms. Kubin, together with the city of Ukiah and a district team including their food services director, workers, bus drivers, maintenance workers and volunteers, improved the reach of their meal drive-thru program by ensuring that the needs of the children who do not have transportation to pick up the food were met by delivering meals by bus to regular bus stops,” said Wood.
Ms. Kubin has been superintendent of UUSD since 2012 and has almost 30 years of experience in education. She was raised in Mendocino County and attended Willits schools, graduating at the top of her class. She earned her Bachelor’s degree from the University of California Davis, and earned her two teaching credentials and Master’s Degree from San Diego State University. She began her career teaching middle school Language Arts and High School Leadership prior to moving into administration.
Debra has served as President of the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) Mendocino County Chapter, is currently serving as the Region 4 representative to the ACSA Superintendent's Council and has served on various state education committees.
“Thank you so much for this honor,” said Ms. Kubin. “I am grateful to the staff at Ukiah Unified and all they have done in the last year to serve our kids and families! I would also like to thank my three kids – Olivia, Jacob and Sydney—and my family for everything they do to support me!”
“I wanted to recognize Ms. Kubin for her dedication that has gone beyond the students in her district to the entire community they live in and selecting her as my district’s 2021 Woman of the Year is my honor,” said Wood.
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